1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of a tool useful in the electronics industry, and is directed more particularly to a desoldering device.
2. The Prior Art
In the repair of electronic components, such as condensers, resistors, transistors, I.C.s etc., it is frequently necessary to remove a component from the printed circuit board to which it is soldered. Many such components incorporate a multiplicity of connections emanating from a single unit to spaced eyelets in the foil of a printed circuit board. The removal of components having multiple connections without damaging the board is an exceedingly time consuming and delicate task.
It will be readily recognized that where a single lead is soldered through an eyelet in a printed circuit board, it may be possible simply to melt the solder in the eyelet, grasp the lead, and pull the lead clear while the solder is still molten. However, where a multiplicity of connectors emanate from a single component, it is virtually impossible simultaneously to melt the solder in all of the eyelets to permit lateral removal of all connectors at once.
In accordance with one current desoldering technique, the connections to individual leads are heated one at a time while the leads are pulled. This method involves gross distortion of the leads and damage to the component, and often to the board, since the lead cannot be removed in a direction normal to the board due to the continued presence of other still attached leads. In accordance with another desoldering method, a miniature torch is used simultaneously to heat all connections to a component. Obviously, use of a torch involves severe risk of overheating and damage to the printed circuit board.
Alternate methods employed for desoldering include the so-called "solder suckers" wherein heat resistant plastic materials having low coefficients of conduction are brought into close adjacency with the molten solder to be removed and a vacuum created to suck off increments of the molten solder. Devices of this sort have largely proven ineffective since even if only minor increments of the solder remain, a strong mechanical connection is still afforded.
Other methods for desoldering employ a so-called "solder wick" which is brought into contact with the soldered joint so that increments of the molten solder are drawn off into the wick. Such method involves considerable expense and wastage since the wick or braid is expensive and the method suffers from the same drawback inhering in the solder sucker method, namely, minor remaining solder increments leave a strong mechanical bond. Additionally, use of a solder wick requires that the soldered connection be subjected to a substantially greater amount of heat than is necessary merely to melt the solder, due to the cooling effect on the solder connection of the wick.